Staying Warm in the shoulder seasons?

The balaclava! I woke up with it covering my face and all, umm errrr drooled on! YUCK!

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LOL!!!! That was my recommendation, that I still stand by. Of course a balaclava can be worn many ways and when I sleep in the "cool" season it is "under" my chin........drool all over appears to indicate you slept with it over your mouth......????

Anyways, LOL! Each has their own comfort levels. I still swear by the balaclava.......and toasty during the day.....

Get yourself a tent like this, complete with stove:
OK, so that might not fit very well into the kayak, but it means I go to bed warm even at -32°C (the fire is going out when in bed). Here is a related photo of our tent from another trip taken by a friend that is featured in the upcoming Weather Trivia Calendar: http://eclipsephoto.ca/index.php?showimage=170. Both snowshoe trips we had temperatures of -32°C and below.

On a more serious note, here are a couple more tips (or the same tips with my comments) that help us cold weather campers sleep warm:

Activity before bedtime has been mentioned.

Food before bed has been mentioned, but make it high energy/high fat food that will keep the internal fires burning. I make hot chocolate using powdered coconut milk. It tastes amazing and is very rich.

Get into dry long underwear and socks just before bed. This is really important if you are a cool sleeper. Some of us sleep hot and can even dry the damp out of our clothes while sleeping, but most cannot and the slightest moisture will suck away precious energy.

Did I mention dry socks? Dry, warm, socks go a long way toward keeping my whole body warm. You may not need the long undies with that sleeping bag, but at least have the option of putting on some good dry socks.

You mentioned the sleeping bag, but also important is the sleeping pad. What's insulating you from the ground?

Cheers,
Bryan

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Actually bryan you might not be far off. It might not work for a rainy trip where dry wood might be a problem but There's a couple of things folks could consider.
1-use a golite shangra-la 3 tent , small collapsible stove and titanium roll up stove pipe from Titanium Goat plus stove pipe patch.
2-for those that sleep in a hammock or tarp/tent in a SHELTERED place incorporate the super shelter idea popularized by Mors Kochanski.
Hammock linkhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IAktmN5 ... plpp_video

For tarp users,space blanket on back wall and under you and a long fire out front.